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South Africa – Zuma urges gold unions and employers to avoid strike

Mail and Guardian

Zuma appeals to gold sector to find solution

President Jacob Zuma has urged parties in the gold mining sector to reach a wage agreement soon.
Gold mining companies, represented by the chamber, offered a basic increase of 6.5% for category four and five employees, including rock drill operators. (Reuters)

“Government can only appeal to parties to find a solution. I don’t think we can tell the management of the mine ‘accept what the workers are saying’, nor can we tell the workers [that],” Zuma told editors at a breakfast briefing in Pretoria.

“We just appeal that the two parties must find one another because a protracted strike is not helpful to the country nor to the industry itself.”

Zuma was responding to a question on what government would do to intervene in the potentially damaging strike in the gold sector set to start on Tuesday evening.

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